Faith - A Strengthening Quality

FAITH has tremendous power. For example, although Satan wants to kill us spiritually, faith enables us "to extinguish all the wicked one's burning arrows." (Ephesians 6:16)  With faith, we can face mountain like problems.  Jesus told his disciples:  "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will moved"  (Matthew 17:20) Since faith has the potential for strengthening us spiritually, we do well to consider these questions.  What is faith?  How does our heart condition affect our faith? How can we strengthen our faith? And in whom should we put faith? - ROMANS 4:3.

WHAT IS FAITH?

Faith goes beyond simply believing or acknowledging the truth, for even "the demons believe [that God exists] and shudder." (James 2:19)  What, then, is faith? 

The Bible defines faith as having two aspects.  First, "faith is the assured expectation of what is hoped for." (Hebrews 11:1a)  If you have faith, you firmly believe that everything Jehovah says is true and will be fulfilled.  For example, Jehovah told the Israelites:  "If  you could break my covenant regarding the day and my covenant regarding the night, to prevent day and night from coming at their proper time, only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken."" (Jeremiah 33:20, 21)   Are you ever afraid that the sun might stop rising and settling in the Sky, thus causing day and night to cease?  If you do not doubt the physical laws that keep the earth rotating on its axis and orbiting the sun, should you doubt that the Creator of these laws can fulfill his word?  Of course not! - ISAIAH 55:10, 11; MATTHEW 5:18.

Second, faith is "the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen."  Faith is said to be "the evident demonstration," or convincing evidence," of things that are invisible to the eye and yet real.  (Hebrews 11:1b)  In what way?  Suppose a child asks you,'How do you  know the air exists?' Although you have never seen air, you would likely help the child to reason on the evidence that exists-breathing , the effects of the wind, and so on. Once the child is convinced of the evidence, he accepts the existence of what is invisible to him.  Similarly, faith is based on solid evidence. - ROMANS 1:20. 

Next time: Faith - A Strengthening Quality - RIGHT HEART CONDITION NECESSARY

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